Svetlana K-Lié was born in Moscow where she graduated with a MA from the faculty of applied arts completed by additional studies at the famous I.I. Nivinsky Etching Art Studio and Babushkinski Ceramic Studio.

2011 Broomhill National Sculpture Competition finalist Svetlana K-Lie is set to turn the historic town of Battle completely upside down this September!

As the location of the 1066 Battle of Hastings, the town of Battle and surrounding area plays host to thousands of visitors annually, keen to experience all this historical area has to offer. This September however, renowned Russian artist Svetlana K-Lie is keen to encourage visitors to take a fresh look at the area and its more contemporary attributes.

Always intriguing, frequently challenging, often controversial… Born in Moscow, Svetlana K-Lie graduated in 2007 with a MA from Camberwell College of Arts, London following her studies at the Faculty of Applied Arts, Moscow and the I.I. Nevinsky Etching Art Studio and Babushkinski Ceramic Studio.

Her work has been exhibited internationally including the Saatchi Gallery, London and two of her etchings are in the collection of the Hermitage Museum of St. Petersburg. Most recently, she was commissioned by the Third Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art, won runner-up best sculpture prize at the Battle Art Fair 2010, featured in the Open West exhibition, and is a finalist in the 2011 Broomhill National Sculpture Competition.

Svetlana’s art work will be installed in three different venues in Battle during September, as part of three separate exhibitions and events:

Svetlana’s installation sculpture, Last Supper, will be installed as the focal entrance piece to this year’s Art Fair.

Of this piece Svetlana said: “The table is formed like a gate for visitors to walk through. The installation represents a table at which all the 12 Apostles are present. The Apostles are represented by 12 metal bums. We see everything from an unusual view point. Like from above, the table stands vertically facing us with 12 pieces of flesh lying on it – metal flesh.”

The Last Supper theme acquires more relevance as we enter the year 2012, whilst Cheburashka, the sculpture created for Broomhill, shows gates of transformation, keeping the transition issue undefined and mysterious.

Svetlana’s sculpture, Grater Bed, will be installed on the exterior of the 1066 Pub, which overlooks the historic Abbey Green and Battle Abbey itself.

Originally produced for the Third Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art in 2009, organised in collaboration with the Moscow Museum of Modern Art and the South-Eastern Administrative Okrug prefecture, yhe piece was then selected for the Open West Competition, Cheltenham, before coming to Battle to be shown as part of The World Turned Upside Down Art Trail.

Svetlana describes her motivation for creating this piece: “A bed is usually the place where each of our days ends and starts, where we rest, where we dream, where we abandon ourselves, where we share our intimacies. By combining the dimensions of a dormitory style steel bed with an absurd over-scaled cheese grater, the artist transforms this object into one that that will reduce its occupants and their hopes to shreds.”

A scaled-down version of Svetlana’s Broomhill sculpture Cheburashka will be exhibited at the Saffron Art Gallery, Battle as part of its Inside Out exhibition.

Cheburashka is a very famous Russian children’s character which is the main character of an animated film series from the sixties; it is the Eastern equivalent to the Japanese Pokemon or the American Mickey Mouse.

Cheburashka is a small and friendly animal, unknown to science but easily recognisable by its oversized round ears. Thanks to its great popularity, it was chosen as the official mascot of the Russian Olympic team.

Svetlana’s sculpture represents a gate topped with a large head of Cheburashka. Cast in resin, the principal sculpture installed at Broomhill is 1.5 m high, 1.5m wide and 0.7 m deep.

The gate is a reference to the Japanese traditional Torii. Commonly found at the entrance of Shito shrines, it symbolically marks the transition from the profane to the sacred.

The sculpture reflects our contemporary understanding of and relationship to the sacred – it might even be an absurd attempt of re-sanctification of our everyday life. In a profane society, our ersatz of the sacred are often unearthed from the lost paradise of innocent childhood.